No. 17 Lady Bulldogs head out west for nationals
PERKINSTON — The No. 17 Mississippi Gulf Coast women's tennis team heads out west next week for the NJCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship.
The team, fresh off its first MACJC championship since 1987, will be playing May 7-11 at the Reffkin Tennis Center in Tucson, Ariz.
"We have three goals: to have a winning season, to win state and region championships, and then qualify for nationals," Gulf Coast coach Gary Bourgeois said. "We've done all three of those. It's a great experience for them to see the West. The main thing is they get to compete against the best junior college tennis players in the nation."
The Lady Bulldogs closed the regular-season by winning 12 straight dual matches, and proceeded to win the MACJC/Region 23 Tournament hosted at Perkinston.
Katie Burrall (So, Hernando/Hernando) won the No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles titles.
"It was incredible," she said. "It's a thing you don't get to experience many times in your life. I think we're all ready. It's going to be a different competition. It's going to be good."
She teamed with Jenna Lyons (Fr, Pascagoula/Pascagoula) to win the doubles title.
"It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Lyons said. "I've learned a lot here mentally and physically."
Lyons said she was out west one time as a kid, and she's one of several players getting to see new sights.
The player who came the farthest to play at Gulf Coast will get to see a vastly different part of America.
Bianca Buie (Fr, Baia Mare, Romania/Gheorghe Sincai National High School) who gets to see a vastly different part of America. Buie hasn't dropped a set this spring in 21 matches on the way to her No. 2 singles championship.
"It was like a dream come true for me," she said. "I came from Romania with a goal, and I got to achieve it. I'm so happy I get to go there for this occasion. I'm ready to go there and do a great job. I'm sure we'll come back even happier than we are now."
Gulf Coast has plans to do things outside the lines. There's a banquet, and Bourgeois has set up a trip to the University of Arizona. The team will also take in a Wild West show while they're out there.
MACJC tennis teams face scholarship restrictions that limit their chances to win a national championship. The Lady Bulldogs will focus on topping the other schools from here and sneaking past other teams in Arizona.
"We're 17th right now nationally," Bourgeois said. "If we can finish up in the top 15 or may be close to 10th, that would be a tremendous achievement."
For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCAthletics on Twitter and BulldogLIVE on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
